I didn't realize it, but the baby announcement post was number 300! Wow for 301 posts! Happy Mothers Day! Today to celebrate Mother's Day I woke up many times throughout the night just because I wanted to spend more time with the kids who made it possible. The first couple of times was to feed a nursing baby, the third time was because a child was yelling that she had peed the bed, and the fourth time was because the same child had snuck in and had sat down in my bed to pee my bed. Then we all got up and had cereal together as a family. :)

The homebirth that we had was one of the most beauitful experiences of our lives. On the 6th I woke up around 5 am with hard contractions, generally around 10-15 minutes apart, but they were never regular. They never really got regular actually, so in the afternoon the midwife came to check me out and I had very little hope I was in real labor, even though they hurt. I was so excited when it turned out I was three centimeters, lol. What a relief! After that I started dancing around the house and had a shower and our lovely midwife popped off to Costco to wait for things to progress a little farther. When she got back I had been walking around for a couple of hours and we had set up the homebirth stuff (put plastic on the bed, etc). Then I was five centimeters and things were going much faster.

By that time I was in the bed surrounded by my mom, our wonderful friend Sarah from downstairs and my husband. I felt surrounded by their love and strength, and the contractions were really hard... I did my deep breathing and crushed their hands which seemed to really help, lol. After a while Sarah got behind me and was my chair, and my mom had one hand and my husband the other. What's interesting about this birth is that I remember everything, and Zoe (the midwife) noticed it (she was there at our other two births too)... I was very present in the moment. I've never had any drugs during labor but this time I suppose I allowed myself to feel it more.

Two more hours passed after Zoe came back, at some point the other midwife Christine arrived, and it finally reached the point when I had to push. It's an interesting feeling when you have to push - it's a relief, and its an overwhelming force. I don't remember how many times I pushed, but after two or so I was able to feel the head with my hand. Then one or two more and there she was! It was 10:31 pm, which surprised us since the other two were born early, early in the morning. Rainn Renata weighed 7 pounds and was 19 inches, my heaviest and shortest baby, lol. We both are healthy and happy, and as we learn all the things we need to learn together I marvel every day how different and beautiful each baby is, with their huge personalities and perfect tiny feet.

The first birth we had we tried for a homebirth and ended up in the hospital when her heart rated dropped after a long labor and her position was wrong. The second time we were nervous and had our midwife in the hospital, which was lovely and calm and nice too, but having a homebirth was an entirely unique and wonderful experience. It was so natural, calm, and relaxed being in our own room in our own bed and not having to go anywhere or go through any procedures. I believe from my own experience that the circumstances of birth definitely affect the happiness and temperament of a child, too. Maybe I'm still a little high from the whole experience, but it was beautiful. :)